Russert was one of the best in journalism. As a news and politics "junkie," I truly enjoyed listening to Russert conduct an interview and comment on the politics of the day. He embodied the serious "old school" journalism, which was quite refreshing in the now "new school" of talking-head pundits whose nature is pomposity and rudeness.

Be sure to read the whole post, there are a lot of good lessons that can be learned from Tim Russert’s life. Also be sure to be in prayer for his family.

3. My friend, Steve, asks a great question. Especially in light of the Emergent discussions and wanting to get past what is deemed as "institutional". A lot of that can breed much disrespect for the elderly in our churches.

4. Tony Mitchell over at RedBlueChristian.com says (borrowing from Thomas Jefferson) that in order to maintain a free democracy we must have an educated populace. That parents need to teach their children to be good citizens. What does it mean to do that? Good read, and a good reminder that we shouldn’t depend on the schools to do this.

Well, I don’t think there is in the minds of ordinary Americans. I think sometimes Washington tries to create a culture war. I think that most Americans have a pretty sensible attitude about these issues. They recognize, for example, that when it comes to the issues of the black family and inner city poverty that discrimination has played a role, our tragic history has played a role, the fact that there aren’t jobs in the communities for African-American men often times weakens the family.

But as I said on Sunday, what I think most people also recognize is you’ve got a personal responsibility to look after your kids. If we have an epidemic of children being raised without their fathers it’s not just enough to blame government or blame racism or blame poverty. It’s also important for us to take a look in the mirror and make sure that we’re looking after our kids. That combination, as Dr. King said an either or proposition, it’s a both and proposition. We have mutual responsibilities towards each other in our communities in our churches, our government. But we also have responsibilities for our selves to look after our families and our children and that’s what I was trying to get across.

Are these the same ordinary Americans who were clinging to their God and their guns not too long ago? Amazing. I love how it just dismisses the question and refers back to comfortable talking points.

I believe his ideas are totally wrong for America and many of his plans would take us the opposite direction from where I think we need to go. He is an ardent supporter for the most liberal and indefensible positions on abortion, including his refusal to support a ban on the most vile forms of all, partial birth abortion. He has stated that he would be an activist in seeking to push for what the anti-life forces euphemistically call “reproductive rights.”

His plan to raise taxes would be an economic disaster for our nation. We would lose jobs and investment and see the economy really squeeze the working class with even higher fuel and food prices.

He would implement more government control on everything from health care to small business and that’s not the right direction for us.

Somebody has way, way too much time on their hands building this model church entirely out of legos. It kind of reminds me of the Crystal Cathedral.

Drew Hill made a great point about how a lot of churches are plastic, lifeless. Make sure to read his whole post, and see the other two pictures.

I looked at the pictures for a couple of minutes and made some observations. First, this can’t be a Presbyterian church because all the empty seats are towards the back. And it can’t be a Baptist church because all of the people are smiling. It’s not a charismatic church either since everyone is seated with not a single hand raised. Must not be contemporary either – no screens or projection. Way too many windows to be postmodern. What kind of church is this anyway?

It’s a plastic church, and it just may represent a significant number of churches in America. You know what I mean? Plastic. Neat and clean, but also cold and sterile. Artificial, lifeless worship, everyone neatly in place and unchanging, pretending to have church, but for display purposes only, nothing to do with real life. Plastic churches built by enterprising humans rather than birthed by the Spirit of God. Little churches where little people have little faith in a little God.

One:We’ve got a new song We all forgot to tell you Until our service Two:The background is blue The pastor’s shirt is blue too Like a floating head Three:I messed up the song I sang all the wrong verses But I still blamed you Four:Whoa, whoa, whoa, hot mic Could I get more guitar please No, that’s way too much Five:Can you mic a bird? I have a worship eagle You might need some gloves

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About Shane Vander Hart

Shane Vander Hart is the founder and editor-in-chief of Caffeinated Thoughts. He is also the President of 4:15 Communications, LLC, a social media & communications consulting/management firm. Prior to this Shane spent 20 years in youth ministry serving in church, parachurch, and school settings. He has also served as an interim pastor and is a sought after speaker and pulpit fill-in. Shane has been married to his wife Cheryl since 1993 and they have three kids. Shane and his family reside near Des Moines, IA. You can connect with Shane on Facebook or follow him on Twitter and Google +.